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Monday, July 11, 2016

Word has it that the flavour of the month (well the last few months at least) is anything salted egg; from the salted egg pau (which is a dim sum staple) to a salted egg croissant. It seems the big boys of the fast food world have jumped on the bandwagon with 'The Golden Arches' releasing an incarnation of a salted egg chicken burger.

Fierce debate has been raging online regarding the 'shiokness' (how good it tastes) of it, most reports from the people on the ground have given it a thumbs down.

After waking up in the middle of the night wanting to try it I decided to take the plunge and try making it for myself with a little help from a colonel!

Having gone to the wet-market earlier I managed to get my hands on 6 salted duck eggs and a 10 piece feed / bucket from the colonel. So here's the recipe for my salted egg chicken burger..

Ingredients

6 sated egg yolks

20-30 Curry leaves

2-3 Chili padi

1-2 ears of garlic

20g butter

6 pieces of fried chicken from Kentucky

6 hamburger buns

Lettuce

Directions

1. Steam egg yolks for 10 mins

2. Mash egg yolks until fine paste

3. Finely dice garlic

4. Slice Chili

6. Heat oil in wok and add salted egg stir until foamy, add garlic

7. Cook for 2-3 mins then set aside

8. In a separate pan fry Chili and curry leaves in oil until fragrant add butter

9. Whisk until foamy

10. Add chicken piece by piece and coat accordingly

11. Remove chicken and let it dry on a wire rack

12. Assemble bun with the lettuce at the bottom and you're done!

See how easy it is? No messy yellow goop the salted egg clings nicely to the chicken while not impacting its crunchiness!

Sorry McDonalds you're not going to catch me eating your burger when I can have this myself at home. It's a little bit of work I have to say BUT worth it in the end, no soggy tasteless chicken.

In my next iteration I'll try making the fried chicken myself using my own special blend of herbs and spices!

Thursday, March 24, 2016

So you all remember "Larry" and his friends from my previous adventure into making lobster rolls?

As you may or may not know the meat to shell yield is rather low :( All however is not lost, the shell and all the other bits you don't ordinarily eat can be resurrected into making one of the most divine 'soups' ever: Lobster Bisque.

Like any dish that I do I set myself against a benchmark. Up against my bisque is the one that is served at a local French brasserie here in Singapore Balzac; helmed by Jean Charlen Dubois from The French Kitchen and Raffles hotel fame.

Ingredients

2 lobsters

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 carrot, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 sprigs fresh tarragon

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup of sherry

2 cups fish stock or clam broth

½ cup long-grain white rice

1 cup heavy cream

Salt & Cayenne pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. When the lobsters have been cooked, place them in a bowl and remove the meat from the claws and tail, again reserving any liquid that comes out of the shells

2. Chop the meat and refrigerate. Roughly chop the shells into small pieces and reserve, along with all the lobster remains

3. Swirl the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add the vegetables and herbs

4. Sweat until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes, then increase the heat to medium-high and add the lobster shells and remains

5. Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, then add the tomato paste and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes

6. Add the sherry, then ignite or cook until the alcohol has evaporated

7. Add fish stock and 1 cup of the lobster-cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 1 hour

8. Strain the broth through a colander, pressing down hard on the solids to extrude as much liquid as possible. Wipe out the pot and pour in the broth. Add the rice and cook for at least 30 minutes, or until the grains are cooked to extreme softness

9. Blend the bisque in a food processor or blender, then pass through a fine sieve, again pressing down hard on what solids remain. Add the cream and bring to a low simmer

10. Add the chopped lobster meat, let it heat through, then season to taste with salt and cayenne

Monday, March 21, 2016

Straight off the bat, I love lobster, actually I love shell fish in general. What I don't love is paying an arm and a leg (or in some cases giving a 'pint' of blood).

When the opportunity presented itself to get my hands on some Canadian lobsters I jumped at the chance to make something I've been promising someone for the longest time that I would try to make: Lobster Rolls. Imagine sweet and tender chunks of steamed/poached lobster lightly coated in mayonnaise and chives hiding in a buttery bun.. YES!

Here are the steps for you to make lobster rolls in your own home! It's not as hard as you think.. Trust me!

Ingredients

Lobster

Hot dog buns / brioche

Butter

Mayonnaise

Salt

Chives (chopped)

Celery (optional)

Directions

1. Put your live lobster(s) in the freezer for at least an hour to put it to sleep

2. Boil a pot of slightly salted water and cook your lobster for 8-10 mins

3. Remove your lobster to cool

4. Remove the meat from the tail and pincers (retain the shells if you want to make lobster bisque!!!!)

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

I've been a huge fan of deep fried Mac & Cheese balls ever since eating them at 28 Hong Kong Street. Take your usual Macaroni and Cheese shape it into a ball then coat it in panko / breadcrumbs and deep fry them, the result are balls of crunchy cheesy goodness.

So without much further adieu here's my version of mac & cheese, adopted from the book "Diner: deliciously authentic feel-good recipes"

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons of butter (salted)

1 chopped garlic clove

1 teaspoon of dry mustard

3 tablespoons of plain flour

500ml milk

130g cheddar

60g parmesan

125g mozzarella

350g macaroni

1 egg

Breadcrumbs/ panko

Directions

Melt butter in pan

Add garlic and mustard, sauté before adding flour

Whisk over medium heat until a paste forms

Continually add milk and bring to boil while whisking

In a separate pot cook the macaroni

Turn down heat of milk mixture and simmer for 10 minutes

Remove from heat and add cheeses

Mix cooked macaroni and sauce into a shallow tray and place in fridge for at least 2 hours

Monday, January 4, 2016

Aside from the humble meat pie, sausage roll and pavlova (ok New Zealand we will give you this one) nothing says 'straya' more than a lamington; vanilla sponge cake coated in chocolate and rolled in dedicated coconut (in my case I filled my lamingtons with cream and berry jam as well).

Being invited to a friends house for afternoon tea I thought it would be nice to share a little bit of oz with her guests to accompany her famous 'binglova'

Lamingtons are perfect for morning or afternoon tea, coupled with a cuppa ..the recipe posted is my take on one by Australia's CWA that was featured on MasterChef Australia.

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A Singapore based food blog of IT guy who loves to cook as much as he loves to eat, which always leads to an ever expanding waist line which therefore leads to the need to constantly upgrade his pants.
A taste for the weird and wacky, I'll really try anything once!
If you ever want to drop me a line I can be found here: sidpgo@gmail.com